Reducing the impact of preterm birth: Preterm birth commissioning in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Reducing the impact of preterm birth: Preterm birth commissioning in the United Kingdom Lisa Storya,*, Nigel A.B. Simpsonb, Anna L. Davidc, Zarko Alfirevic Zd, Phillip R. Bennette, Matthew Jollyf, Andrew H. Shennana, the UK Preterm Clinical Network a Department of Women and Children’s Health, School of Life Courses Sciences, King’s College London, St Thomas’ Hospital, London, SE1 7EH, United Kingdom b Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, School of Medicine, University of Leeds, LS2 9NL, United Kingdom c Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Institute for Women’s Health, University College London, 74 Huntley Street, London, WC1 6AU, United Kingdom dWomen and Children’s Health, University of Liverpool, L69 3BX, United Kingdom e Institute for Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College, London, Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital, W12 0HS, United Kingdom f NHS England, Skipton House, London, SE1 6LH, United Kingdom A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 21 February 2019 Received in revised form 2 March 2019 Accepted 3 April 2019 Available online 21 April 2019 Keywords: Preterm birth UK commissioning guidance Safer maternity care A B S T R A C T Reducing preterm birth is a priority for Maternity and Children’s services. In the recent UK Department of Health publication ‘Safer Maternity Care’ the Secretary of State for Health aimed to achieve the national maternity safety ambition by pledging to reduce the rate of preterm birth from 8% to 6%. It was proposed that specialist preterm birth services should be established in the UK in order to achieve this aim. In response the Preterm Clinical Network has written Commissioning Guidance aimed to establish best practice pathways and agreed models of care to reduce variation nationally. They have been developed by clinical experts in the field, from within the UK, to provide recommendations for commissioning groups and to recommend pathways to organisations with the aim of reducing the incidence of preterm birth. Three key areas of care provision are focused on: prediction, prevention and preparation of women at high risk of PTB. This Expert Opinion, will summarise the Commissioning Guidance.